1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control system and a control method, an information processing method and an information processing apparatus, an information processing terminal and a method for an information processing terminal, a storage terminal, and a program. More particularly, the present invention relates to a control system and a control method, an information processing method and an information processing apparatus, an information processing terminal and a method for an information processing terminal, a storage terminal, and a program, for controlling a device connected via a network in a more reliable and more efficient manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various systems have been proposed for controlling a device installed at a remote location.
One of such systems is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-184081. In this system, home electric appliances installed in a home, such as an air conditioner or a video recorder, are controlled in accordance with passwords transmitted via a telephone from the outside of home.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-41378 discloses a system in which a server is disposed between a controlling terminal and a controlled terminal, and the controlling terminal controls the controlled terminal via the server.
In those control systems, a device to be controlled is required to be always connected to a control device via a communication means so that the control device disposed at a remote location can access the device to be controlled (for example, in the system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-184081, a home electric appliance is always connected to a telephone line via a remote controller and an adaptor).
That is, when a first device serving as a controlling device and a second device serving as a controlled device can communicate with each other whenever communication is needed, either device can start communication under the initiative of that device. For example, the first device can transmit various data including a request to the second device, and, conversely, the second device can transmit various data to the first device, whenever transmission is required.
This makes it possible to control the device by communicating with the device via a network, whenever the control is needed.
However, in a case in which a device such as a IC card, a display, or a memory is remotely controlled in an environment in which the device is not always connected to a network, the device is generally controlled in such a manner that a client such as a personal computer, which manages the device, transmits a request to a server, and the client controls the operation of the device in accordance with a response returned from the server. In this technique, however, it is difficult for the server to directly control the device under the initiative of the server.
That is, because the device is not always connected to the network, the server cannot access the client with an arbitrary timing to control the device managed by the client.
More specifically, it is very difficult for the server to take the initiative in changing a property of a device such as a IC card or a non-contact RF ID receiving) or controlling the operation of the device that is connected indirectly to the server with a particular timing when the device is placed near to or directly on an apparatus (such as a IC card reader/writer or a RF ID receiver) connected to a network.
Furthermore, in the conventional control system, when commands or responses are transmitted between a server and a client, one command or one response is transmitted at a time. This results in an increase in the number of times that transmission is performed between the server and the client, and thus results in an increase in communication cost.
Because information such as a header and a footer is added each time a command or a response is transmitted, the data size transmitted at a time increases and the communication time needed for each transmission increases. The above-described problem is serious in particular when a terminal such as a portable telephone, communication with which is low in communication speed and needs high cost, is remotely controlled.
Furthermore, in the conventional control system, when a client receives a command transmitted from a server, if an error occurs at the client, the process is terminated regardless of the type of the error. To make the client perform a following process, it is required that the server and the client be connected to each other and a command be retransmitted.